Ernest L, Washington DC

Despite his extensive military experience, Ernest finds it very difficult to find work that pays a living wage. He also notes the extremely high cost of housing. “Something needs to be done,” he says, “because they’re putting [housing] out of reach for normal working-class people."

Ernest believes that if the next president addresses poverty, crime rates will go down. “People are tired of being broke. They want to feed their families. They come home and see their kids starving, with no clothes, you know what I mean? I think if we get a change, a lot of crime will go down,” he says.

He hopes that the next president will end the war in Iraq and address economic hardship at home. He says, “We’re spending a lot of money over there [in Iraq] with nonsense, and that money could be here to help us.”